Balad Mortar Attack

[MikeGipsonUSAF]

What the fuck is wrong with everyone bitching at each other in different services?! Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard whatever who gives a fuck! From the custodians and cooks to the Para Jumpers, Rangers and Seals - we are all a team fighting one fight. Lets try to keep the fight out there, against terrorism, instead of on our damn keyboards children!

[minigunexpert]

love the military....when u cant find transport u grab the nearest thing...and do work son.....

[DiverseLA]

I just talked to an Air Force Reserves guy who was stationed in Balad around '07 or so. Said they got mortared all the time.

But, the base in Balad is huge. The size of a small city. So the chance of getting hit is very slim.

[McBadA]

I love watching chair force and army personnel that have absolutely no job and have never been outside the Ecp's run for cover. It's hilarious. Yes mortars/rockets are coming in but chances of getting hit.... Slim to non nowadays. Go run route clearance, no bunkers out there to save ya.

[sgtmellousmc]

@McBadA So your a "TWINK" Gamer. how freaking awesome for you. Do you get milk and cookies when you are done playing.

You are a child regardless of your real age. One main reason I say that is that you ASSUMED I did not go outside the wire AND that I was already a 20 year combat veteran of The United States MArine Corps. No you could not have known which is EXACTLY why one should NEVER ASS ume. Oops sorry to keep you, it's your turn to get a twinkle kill. BTW are you a dungeon or a dragon?

[sgtbadass08]

In Balad now; very calm to my surprise. not that im complaining or anything....

[JOHNMILLER9325]

Just another day in "mortaritaville!!" Been there, done that!! Remember running to a "mortar" bunker at 0200 hrs, with k-pot/IBA/rifle and barely any clothing???

[sgtbadass08]

Im going there this sunday; has that place calmed down at all or is it getting hit everyday still?

[blah007001]

@sgtbadass08 It's called "mortaritaville" for a reason.

[soldier727dl]

this guys looking for attention, looks like a fobbit ass faggot/POG to me

[CaleOwens]

He's more worried about getting ran over than getting blown up. How ever you get so used to that shit. When I was there we were getting shelled at least 2 x a day. Most of the time the mortars missed us. The insurgents didn't sand bag the bases of their tubes, so there was no telling where that shit would land.

[tjohn1986]

hehe good times

[FIRATTEKINMERSIN]

kendi kazdıgınız kuyuya kendınız duseceksınız ballad ı yeterince deşifre ettiniz salaklar sözde bir kaç bin insanın ölümünden sorumlu tutulan saddamın ve orada yaşayan halkın ölümüne neden oldunuz gerçi saddamın öldüğüne üzülmedim ama binlerce müslümanın günahı neydi yaptığınız hırsızlık gasp tecavüzden başka neydi ALLAH bunu size bırakmaz...çok yakında fazla zamanınız kalmadı'''

[WuLiMan]

A lot more concrete then there was when I was there.

[ItsSundayNite]

wow the memories lives on

[Pyro1791]

so surreal looks like mars..ill be in the sandbox pretty soon myself

[garethrogue]

fuck that. a rocket attack AND a sandstorm. good luck getting an accurate azmuth on the impact zones if you cant see shit past your tower.

[no1gangsta2002]

my husband is there right now

[Jackarunda]

How bad would that suck, get caught out in the open in sandy conditions when you hear alarms go off and while going to cover you get hit by a car XD

[Mikevdog]

Those bastards always hit us when the weather was bad.

[556pilot]

was that by K-pod H1 housing? i thought i saw the chow hall... thanks for posting. i cant say i really miss that place much. food was ok though. sand storms sucked haha

[mnfisherman]

looks like a sandstorm

[akaboone]

Anaconda is huge, when motar rounds hit no one knows about it... Now on Poliwada which actually near the city of Balad and is tiny as hell. We would get mortared once week or so.... you definitely knew when you were being attacked... thank god iraqis cant shoot for shit with motars or aks...

[damiandrifts]

anaconda is not that big but VBC is

[mike2120g]

lol...i didnt kno he was on a bike.....oh well whatever works...

[greengirl143]

When I was at balad there was a crazy ass sand storm that last all day and into night....and by chance there was lightning.Crazyiest thing to ever see when,lightning flashed everything turned dark red....I rember thinking how awesome it was and why I love my job .who else gets to see shit like that?

[Mikevdog]

I was there in 09 and we had some really bad sand storms.

[idaho777]

Why's everything orange?

is it dawn with a sandstorm?

[Boarhogone]

2009 was the year of major dust storms in Iraq. I was so dusty the sun shinning through made it look that way. sometimes these storms would last a week long.

SSG Powell Baghdad

[idaho777]

dang, that sux

it reminds me of a zombie survival game haha

[pjayz1]

thats just the sandstorm

[MorganKeyes]

It'll be orange any time of the day the sun's up in those duststorms. It's rather surreal sometimes.

[videowatcher19872008]

There is a whats called a dustorm, there is very little sand in balad, trust me I know its all dirt flying thru the air and it sucks! You take a shower and its sticks to you like glue!

[aakitun]

Haha niiicce. Yea I was with 2/320th FAR aka Balls! Mortar attacks went down by over 90% when we were there from the ass kicking we were doing ^^.

[Nukemasta88]

my friend is goin here i hope she'll be okay shes lyk a cousin 2 me

[Beholdendamage]

Lol that guy riding the bike is my hero everyone is taking cover and he is just having a leisure stroll around the base

[QBALL85]

@Beholdendamage Lol, We had a breech in our FOB in my first deployment. For all we know it could have been a VBIED, and we had a CSM standing on a flimsy wooden balcony yelling at people to get to a bunker while they were figuring out what this threat was.

[Beholdendamage]

@QBALL85 lmao that shit must get annoying after a while. wow i wrote that comment a long time ago that was before i even left for bmt im now in the air force as a security forces member im right now in ramstein air base livin it up. yeah but bro stay safe and i wish u the best and always remember if u ever feel endangered shoot str8 and shoot to kill

[sk8rguy4life1123]

wuts better RPG or Panzerschreck

[soccerabs]

Balad is a huge base. Very common to get hit at least 3 times a week.

[1776iscoming]

Heck I remember we got 7 in one night.

[Harvey041]

No shit, 4-5 times day was normal when I was there.

[uba79]

and it was either during dinner or when I had just gotten into bed

[HCDDWarhero]

Where did you get the bike?

[ioxmo]

lol @ the bike

[hoggy21]

This is why so many Yanks get killed by mortar fire. Best practise is to lie flat, get out of vehicles, and not carry on riding a bike.

[musingmike]

Ummm.....actually most Soldiers don't get killed by mortar fire. I don't know where you getting that from. When they attack our bases like Balad which gets hit a lot or at least used to, they hit a bunch of nothing for the most part. Very rarely do they hit anything of value. Occasionally hit a generator, but there have been cases in which vehicles and even facilities have been hit unfortunately.

[fishman017]

Dumb.

[sniprzkitty]

if you can't get to cover quickly, are you safer to stand still (lie down) or move in a mortar attack ?.

Since its not a point target weapon.

[ScorpionFo]

well, you should not get into the situation not to be able to take cover.... If you are, pray, and move fast to the next cover.... If rounds are coming down to your next, lay down, hands under your torso to protect them against fragmentation, face to the ground and get yourself as small and flat as possible... Your helmet protects you from fragmentation of exploding rounds in fron of you... So place your head towards the incoming

[izri1]

Are you proud of the us terrorists terrorising Iraq?

[pty3738]

im very proud of all ower troops serving in iraq and afganistan uk or us. izri1 you must be 1 sick twisted wan@er to make comments like that.

[YouNoop]

OMG I LAUGHED SO HARD as i saw hes drinving on a bike while mortar attack BEST 5*!

[mdx528]

looks like a different world

[CGman569]

Damn its like Mars out there

[purpleravenstar]

Looks like something that should be on a Doom 3-esque game.

:-)

[EricCris10sen]

@purpleravenstar yo that would be fucking awesome!

[YouNoop]

yeah..looks like hell lol

[ACakaANTMAN]

shut up Moron. People join for other reasons than to be rambo u twat

[marshall059]

why you moving dude, hit the hard deck!!

[akulkis]

marshall059... because that base is so big, the rounds were probably impacting over a mile away (while still impacting on base).. That means the alarms go off, but he's not in immediate danger. Hell, I was at Rustamiyah, only 1100 m x 900 km, and you could tell the stuff that was a relatively safe distance from your location. My comparison, Anaconda is like 6km x 10km. That's why he has a bike...just to get around base instead of walking, because it's so large.

[Sporkmater]

Yep, I can vouch for that. They have several buses you have to take because of the size of the place.

Though I have only seen the weather get that bad two times lasting one to two days.

[KebertXela1992]

I know its a sand storm but it really looks like Mars! Space Marines!!

[akulkis]

on a day like that, we used to say that the weather was "orange"

[KebertXela1992]

I can't imagine being there with weather like that!

[sickatlien]

I remember those days. those hajis mostly pounded us at night

[melon88m20]

its from a sand storm

[vtdragon86]

looks like the area behind dfac 1

[sliznic]

" sweet as to a visual, except looks like your carring the camera on your lap,with someone else.'

[gremlin6800]

LMFAO a Medic, which is just SUPPORT calling this guy a POG....Even on FOB Liberty people got so used to the mortar attacks, even if they were riding their bike, they just keep going cuz rarely did a mortar strike home....just keep your mouth shut and you wont sound so damn retarded....and that airborne tab is because of the unit he's in....

[Mundellproductions]

looks like mars lol

[1776iscoming]

That looks it's right behind DFAC 4. Those alarms go off so much, you got use to them, then one hit a trailer about 20 feet from us one night, I never ignored them after that.

[Blugrazz]

I thought it was a joke 'til a rocket almost hit me in transient housing.

[poopietim]

been there done that. you would start getting used to all the mortar sirens to the point you would ignore them. or just turn the TV up louder

[jros83]

I'm getting sick of some you servicemen who trash other servicemen for whatever reason. who gives a fuck what your job is. we're all the same. we're all go there for the same reasons. stop trashing each other. i wonder if some of you who alk shit about others are honest or not. i think half of you are liars.

anyway, will be there in january. door gunner on a blackhawk.

[guitarguy679]

What MOS is that? I'm joining (Army), and I might wanna do that.

[begforme4484]

Good luck and stay safe

[agent1322]

I completely agree with JROS and think monco is an ass - I will be there in March with SOF. Doesn't matter what MOS you are - were all wearing the same uniforms and in harms way for the same reasons.

[EricCris10sen]

agreed. the new fag up there, armydoc. God, I really hate fucking the army cause they are always bashing us(USAF). Who cares what we are? Looks, we are in the fucking same base, stfu and get over it. You arent better.

[win98nogood]

wow , i was there in 03-04 Balad HHC 2/228th AVN reg

[Proflutzn]

damn looks like Mars, really creapy weather, u cant tell if 100 troops r gunna pop out at u

[jason23296]

the fort is secured and there are apachi chopper patrolling 24 hrs but insurgent shoot makesshift rockets at the bas 90%they only hit sand .the insurgents are usually spotted by the helicopter pilots and then promptly shot by machine gun fire.

[alienkid]

Nothing is gonna pop out at him on balad

[Armyman432]

just another day in the LSA

[nattydread329]

ugh sandstorms,,,, get ur ass inside

By the way,,, that Anaconda = best base in Iraq

[nurotk07]

Thank you for saying that. My BF is there now.

[hoser26]

camp anaconda is almost 30 sqaure knotical miles... sorry cant spell

[DeadSmile1982]

HOW BIG IS CAMP ANACONDA ?

[akulkis]

kaylee....

what part of "used to be" do you not understand?

Has Cheney been employed by KBR since he took office???

NO!

So your insinuation is nothing more that baseless rumor-mongering.

[kaylalee2]

I think you misinterpreted my comment on Cheney. Let me re-phrase: Kellogg, Brown & Root, whose CEO used to be NOW VP Dick Cheney.

For the record, I never said he was employed by KBR during his time in office, but good job correcting me twice for doing or saying NOTHING WRONG. You have GOT to check your facts, mmmk?

[akulkis]

No...this video is NOT false color... We used to say on days like this that...the weather is "Orange out"

Now...why this guy didn't drive to the nearest bunker and take cover is beyond me.. Of course, maybe it's because Anaconda is huge (16 sq. miles ) and the one I was on was only 1 km square.

[heatwave2012]

baghdad i think

[kaylalee2]

K, it's not exactly what we did I don't think because we were more of a quick reaction force (QRF) type element. When vehicles would get hit with IEDs or if a vehicle had mechanical problems, we would have to go out and recover them, so we were kind of on call all the time...had some long days, that's for sure.

[heatwave2012]

oh yea my bro doesn't do that, he like protects like civilian convoys like supplies and stuff

[kaylalee2]

okay, that's probably TCNs, better known as third country nationals. Do they have a bunch of communication problems with the people they escort? The ASVs are pretty badass...have u seen pics?

[heatwave2012]

ive seen the pic.s yea, idk it they have problems communicating, my bro said that and asv was turned over 6 times after it was hit by and i.e.d and every soldier just walk out without even a stratch

[kaylalee2]

That must've been a pretty big IED to roll a 15 ton truck 6 times...unless it was off the side of the road into a ditch or something...perhaps an exageration?? Either way, they're tough trucks unless you get hit from underneath, cuz then they can only withstand 4 pound mine blast before the armor is penetrated. He should try gunning sometime too...it's pretty cool!

[heatwave2012]

i think he is sometimes, but he got promoted when he got over there

[whiskeyarmychick]

OPSEC.... :(

[kaylalee2]

what about any of this convo is opsec?

[akulkis]

What part of the convo is opsec?

You're giving specific details (weights), mine blast resistance. What in the FUCK is your problem....posting details like that.

[kaylalee2]

Yeah, our replacements were from California, but his job is the same as mine. Does he do security for KBR convoys or tcns or something? We did security for KBR recovery...

[Trekgirl08]

Ok, now THAT would REALLY suck! Talk about pedaling your ass off!!

[natenate2320]

more like 30 miles from baghdad, drove it many times

[jbird38]

Between the firey orange atmosphere and the sirens, that's kinda what I always imagined the apocalypse to look like!

[pavelow235]

You wore all that shit(flak vest and helmet), if its time to go god will tell you.

[heatwave2012]

are you in the military if not then shut the hell up, im sure if u were in balad which is 12 miles away from baghdad u would shit ur pants, oh yea and they have to wear all that gear smart one

[kaylalee2]

definitely further than 12 miles...

[heatwave2012]

my bro told us like 12 miles

[kaylalee2]

I lived there for a year and drove the road many times...it's about 30-35 miles. Straight line may be shorter, but still more than 12 miles...not pickin' on ya, just correcting you. It's not as scary as people think, but I was there from Sept. 06-07, so it was probably different if your brother was there earlier in the war.

[heatwave2012]

no he is there now, how far away is balad maybe i just hear him wrong

[kaylalee2]

It's easy for me to say to you "don't worry about him" but, it's easier said than done. We got mortared all the time when I was there, but the mortars almost always landed in the airfield. What does your brother do?

I really think Baghdad is about 30-35 miles from balad as far as driving distance goes, but as I said, I'm not positive on straight-line distance.

[heatwave2012]

he does convoy security, he is the tc of his asv, he is a sgt.

[kaylalee2]

Holy shit! That's exactly what I did...what unit did he replace?? I know you might not know off hand, but when you talk to him next ask him if he had anything to do with the 1744th TC...that was our unit, but we were temporarily replaced by some other unit because our replacements got delayed...ask him if they are security for KBR, cuz that's what we did..

[heatwave2012]

he said he was the tc as in truck commander

[EMTguy]

My dad just arrived there. How dangerous is it still?

[JohnG990]

The base is so big that 99% of anything they fire falls well short of any people. Everyone based there likes to tell all their war stories but most of them don't even know they are in Iraq.... Pizza Hut, Burger King etc...It's way safer now than ever before so he'll be fine.!!!

[JohnG990]

The base is so big that 99% of anything they fire falls well short of any people. Everyone based there likes to tell all their war stories but most of them don't even know they are in Iraq.... Pizza Hut, Burger King etc...It's way safer now than ever before so he'll be fine.!!!

[heatwave2012]

my bro in law is there right now, what unit did ur dad go over with, my bro in law went over with the 105th cav

p.s. do u ever get to talk to ur dad?

[EMTguy]

My dad is in the 257th dental company. Hes attached with an infantry unit at Balad right now. He calls and writes but is pretty swamped with work there.

[heatwave2012]

oh my bro in law is attached with the 101st airborne

[uh60av8er1]

i remeber those good old days lol hey anyone know if they still shutting down the chow halls when on alert lol

[kaylalee2]

If you have your food, then you are allowed to stay in, but are suppose to get on the walls....it's stupid. And if you're in line...haha...ur suppose to go to a bunker...for the year that i was there I think there was only one injury because of indirect fire...

[vivitar45]

here is still stors that still bikes i know you can get a ak47 for 25 bucks over there thats why there is to manny gun problems as the take pot shots at you that was on a us tv news show my be do somthing about the gun thing and hope there is pease and harmany soon but keep on bikeing bro and pease to you

[vivitar45]

thats funny but how did you get your hands on a bike over there it's a cheep way to travel

[kwbrownie2003]

you can buy them at the px

[blackhatch46]

ha ha riding a bike to work i remember doing that shit!! ah ahahahha!

[gab1234]

Bike?! Gas crise in Iraq?! lol

[win98nogood]

funny when i served in balad 03-04 there was any alarms HHC 2-228th AVN REG 93P

[NJRocks281]

i think it would be funny as hell if you had a crazy guy on the base who rode his bike everytime there was an attack, just for the adrenaline rush

[karmahunden]

LMAO!! i just pictured that shit... "pvt. pyle! stop doin that shit, get the fck over here now, its an order!!!..." *pyle fades in the distance as mortars hit* "...gawddammit"

[RonFuckingBurgundy]

Is that a Mortar attack alarm? I didn't hear any crumps or bangs or rockets, but should he not be digging with his hands! Stay low, stay alive?

[Kamenolom]

What is he suppossed to do, just lean off the bike,, and lay in the dirt...hmm, there is an idea

[keefe54]

Thats exatly what he should do, mortars blow in a cone, you should have laid flat on the ground next to a jersey barrier. I lost track of how many times I've seen pogues sprint a half mile to cover instead of just getting down.

[karmahunden]

under a humvee would be a better pick. but yeah, pogs are idiots.

[BJRM7241]

you dick get into cover

[Kamenolom]

See, people like you h ave no idea of what its like! He can be in the "cover", and have that 120mm shell come into that shelter through the door! It is all luck 90% and 10% conscious effort

[mikehaspey1]

Try being in basra. Great drills there, dont hit the deck just ride your bike. great

[Darkpowder]

Good to see this soldier taking a responsible choice for his transport method to work. Well done for being sensible for your carbon footprint Sgt.

That has to go down as one of the most extreme mountainbiking videos ever.

[armylawjag]

Hey, the alarms went off all the time, Freaking Mortaritaville....At first you ran to the bunker, after a while you said screw it, i got somewhere i gotta be.

[jab1983frogger]

haha we just say i ain't got time

[tehmedic]

Going*

[onecamboost]

that brings back memories

[madboy80913]

That it does

[phil2513]

crazy yanks

[mrkoww]

gotta love sand storms and mortars :)

[Richardelizee]

Sand Storms i would get used to it as far as loving mortars ....fuck them

[ikeman824]

I actually used to sleep close to where this video was shot.

[fuelgods]

Agreed, yes they can... seen it with my own eyes and for a short time,ringing ears..

[phiggy35]

Umm, yeah they can... Trust me..

[weiserwr]

Well I see and hear from your video not much has changed.

[MegsLuvsHerSoldier]

Was this a recent video?

[CODcarantenster]

yea look at post date, february 9th 2007

[MegsLuvsHerSoldier]

Just because it was posted Feb 9th doesn't mean it was taken the week of Feb 9th or even in 2007

[vanillawang]

no the video isn't that recent. Sgt. Mello and I were in the same company. it was shot sometime in 2005.